Science Background

Potential Job Roles and Salaries

What kind of roles would I be suitable for based on my science/lab background?

If you CURRENT or PREVIOUS job was in SCIENCE/LAB, you could retrain to perform the SAME OR SIMILAR job within the pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturing industry.

Here are some of the typical roles and the expected salaries:

Biochemist

Scientific professionals who study and explore the chemical processes with biological organisms. Within the pharmaceutical industry, biochemists are employed within research and development departments as well as within quality teams in manufacturing departments.

Starting Salary: €35,000 to €40,000
After 2 Years: €40,000 to €45,000
After 5 Years: €45,000 to €60,000

Starting Salary: $65,744
After 2 Years: $82,180
After 5 Years: $98,616

Laboratory Technician

Assist industry scientists in their research and testing. This can involve a number of different tasks and these tasks can vary greatly between roles. Within the pharmaceutical industry, laboratory technicians can be employed in research and development or in production and manufacturing. As a result, the work can be based in a laboratory or on a production line, depending on the specific responsibilities of the role.

Starting Salary: €25,000 to €28,000
After 2 Years: €28,000 to €32,000
After 5 Years: €32,000 to €35,000

Starting Salary: $39,816
After 2 Years: $49,770
After 5 Years: $59,724

Microbiologist

A scientific professional who studies microorganisms. They play a key role in pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturing by testing to monitor levels of microbial contamination at all stages of the manufacturing process.

Starting Salary: €28,000 to €33,000
After 2 Years: €33,000 to €45,000
After 5 Years: €45,000 to €53,000

Starting Salary: $61,480
After 2 Years: $76,850
After 5 Years: $92,220

What Courses Do I Need to Take?

What courses do I need to take to successfully retrain for a science role in this sector?

You would need to take 2 Modules, Fundamentals of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Commissioning & Qualification (IQ OQ PQ) of Equipment and Systems but this will depend on the details of your work experience and your academic background as you may already be qualified enough to get a job in this sector.

The Fundamentals of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

This Module aims to give you a broad understanding of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technologies, the rules which govern manufacturing and the guidelines on how these are applied.

Followed by;

Commissioning & Qualification (IQ OQ PQ) of Equipment

This is a practical hands-on workshop driven course whose aim is to explain the engineering documentation used to specify and design equipment or systems in a manufacturing facility.

Case Studies and Success Stories

No Manufacturing Experience? No Problem (Aaron’s story)
From Engineering Consultancy into Pharma
From Optician to Chemical Process Technician!

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics
https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#15-0000
Career Builder
https://www.careerbuilder.com/insights

Salaries calculated as 80%, 100% and 120% of BLS averages.